Paypal friends and family and does paypal cover knives if lost or scammed

I have been using Zelle for two years with no issues (for a side hustle admittedly). I have heard about security issues but have not experienced any, personally.
 
mthdwr said:
IF you hit IRS reporting threshold, you have to include this money when you file. It is 20k as of now (probably changing tomorrow) or xxx amount of transactions (it’s a lot).

If you aren’t actually turning a profit, you won’t pay taxes but it makes it more difficult when you file.
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Sorry, I don't understand how this pertains to my question.
 
mthdwr said:
You also won’t pay tax on something even if you hit the reporting threshold, assuming there was no profit involved. It does add another level of difficulty when filing taxes though.
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I'm not an accountant, but I come to the opposite conclusion on this one. It's more complicated than that, in any case.
Jdottinger said:
I may be wrong but when you use f&f it’s on the sender to cover the 3% PayPal fee whereas when using g&s the seller covers the charge. I agree you should use the proper payment method but PayPal is getting their cut regardless.
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For certain types of F&F transaction, there are no fees for either party.

What's the difference between friends and family or goods and services payments?

the difference between friends and family or goods and services payments
www.paypal.com www.paypal.com
 
on_the_edge said:
The problem is that not all scammers use F&F and if you're honest with yourself, you know that not everyone who uses F&F is a scammer either. In fact, the whole issue is "almost" moot if you can trust the other party. I say "almost" bc there IS still the issue of relieving PP of their fees for a service they render, which really isn't cool IMHO. But, if I trust someone else, I am happy to send the money via Zelle, or personal check or MO. And trust is not a given, but has to be earned. Can you still be taken for a ride? Absolutely. Is establishing trust easy? No. But things will never be perfect.

You can do a face to face on a firearm transaction to "be sure", but be sure of what? The buyer is not a convicted felon? It's not a straw purchase? Good luck with that. There is no perfect solution, be it with knives, guns, cars, etc. etc.

ETA: Actually, as I think about it, maybe there IS a perfect solution. Do not buy or sell.
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You make good points. Anyone who uses G/S and automatically thinks they are safe will sooner or later be taken by a scammer or disappointed when PP doesn’t cover them.

I buy/sell/trade ALL the time. Packages coming to and leaving my house every single day just about. I pay and generally will accept all forms of payment. I have never been scammed or scammed anyone. But I always do some quick research if I don’t know the person. Get their #. Text them. Google their # and see what comes up. You just have to protect yourself. Ask for a specific picture. I sold something a few a few days ago and the buyer asked me to text a picture of the item with a fork and knife crossed in the picture at a specific location. There are ways to really reduce the risk
 
on_the_edge said:
The problem is that not all scammers use F&F and if you're honest with yourself, you know that not everyone who uses F&F is a scammer either. In fact, the whole issue is "almost" moot if you can trust the other party. I say "almost" bc there IS still the issue of relieving PP of their fees for a service they render, which really isn't cool IMHO. But, if I trust someone else, I am happy to send the money via Zelle, or personal check or MO. And trust is not a given, but has to be earned. Can you still be taken for a ride? Absolutely. Is establishing trust easy? No. But things will never be perfect.

You can do a face to face on a firearm transaction to "be sure", but be sure of what? The buyer is not a convicted felon? It's not a straw purchase? Good luck with that. There is no perfect solution, be it with knives, guns, cars, etc. etc.

ETA: Actually, as I think about it, maybe there IS a perfect solution. Do not buy or sell.
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I agree, trust is the issue here. I don't think everyone that uses f&f is a scammer. But the fact is I don't know all these random sellers on bladeforums and so sending my money as a gift to a random person seems like a bad idea no?

If you don't care and trust random people with your money, that's great. I'll pass on that.

Now if PayPal does infact take the stance on knives of no knives are covered then I'll have to figure something else out. Hope you've been well.
 
Well you’d be wrong.
Plain and simple. You don’t pay tax unless you are actually making money. I have hit the reporting threshold for past 5 years.
Dadpool said:
I'm not an accountant, but I come to the opposite conclusion on this one. It's more complicated than that, in any case.

For certain types of F&F transaction, there are no fees for either party.

What's the difference between friends and family or goods and services payments?

the difference between friends and family or goods and services payments
www.paypal.com www.paypal.com
Click to expand...
 
benchwarmer380 said:
Sorry, I don't understand how this pertains to my question.
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This is literally the exact answer to your question. He doesn’t want to pay tax. His sales are potentially being reported to the IRS which would make him potentially pay tax. It has nothing to do with PayPal so they aren’t going to take the “fees”. It’s between you and the IRS. Goods and services sales would be reported (once you hit threshold). “Gift” friends payments aren’t supposed to be included
 
mthdwr said:
Well you’d be wrong.
Plain and simple. You don’t pay tax unless you are actually making money. I have hit the reporting threshold for past 5 years.
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There's no reason to be rude. "It's more complicated than that" covers a lot of ground; I'm glad you've found a way to hit that threshold and not pay taxes on it. By chance do you operate as a business? Because that can change the rules for things that look like hobbies (like collecting knives, and sometimes selling them).
 
shinyedges said:
I agree, trust is the issue here. I don't think everyone that uses f&f is a scammer. But the fact is I don't know all these random sellers on bladeforums and so sending my money as a gift to a random person seems like a bad idea no?

If you don't care and trust random people with your money, that's great. I'll pass on that.

Now if PayPal does infact take the stance on knives of no knives are covered then I'll have to figure something else out. Hope you've been well.
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Stop calling them knives and call them tools. Maybe a sharp tool? But I can't afford to lose hundreds of dollars so I'm not going to pay F&F. If I were selling a knife, I would add the G&S fee into the price.
 
Dadpool said:
There's no reason to be rude. "It's more complicated than that" covers a lot of ground; I'm glad you've found a way to hit that threshold and not pay taxes on it. By chance do you operate as a business? Because that can change the rules for things that look like hobbies (like collecting knives, and sometimes selling them).
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Don’t think I was being rude. Wasn’t trying to at least.
I don’t think I said I don’t pay taxes, only that you don’t pay taxes unless you are actually turning a profit.
And yes it does make it more complicated, but not impossible.

What it comes down to, whether you do or don’t pay tax, some people just don’t want to deal with it so they prefer to not take a payment that might be reported to IRS. I’m sure most people don’t consider the irs tax implications when accepting PayPal goods and services .. it really isn’t hard to hit the threshold and you can quite easily do that without making any money.
 
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000Robert said:
Stop calling them knives and call them tools. Maybe a sharp tool? But I can't afford to lose hundreds of dollars so I'm not going to pay F&F. If I were selling a knife, I would add the G&S fee into the price.
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Most people do just roll the 3%into the price. Which is why I find f&f only sellers odd. Like seriously the only way you'll sell is leaving the buyer with no protection? Why can't the buyer just cover the fees (which the damn seller should have just included in the price) and pay g&s?


It's a red flag for me seeing people state; friends and family only.

Funny because they aren't my friend or my family.
 
mthdwr said:
This is literally the exact answer to your question. He doesn’t want to pay tax. His sales are potentially being reported to the IRS which would make him potentially pay tax. It has nothing to do with PayPal so they aren’t going to take the “fees”. It’s between you and the IRS
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Ok, I get what you're saying. The way he worded it, i thought he was referring to PayPal requiring the buyer to pay a/the fee on the transaction and that wouldn't make sense.

Still doesn't make sense for someone to pay a tax on money that is your "income", but I suppose that was tongue in cheek that went over my head.
 
The threshold in MA has been $600 since 2017...got blindsided by a 1099K and had to file Schedule C. Did so again for 2020, and will again for 2021. Ever since I have been keeping records on what I buy and sell, shipping costs, PP fees, etc, so I can accurately account for my expenses and only pay tax on any profit, rather than the whole 1099 amount.
 
shinyedges said:
Most people do just roll the 3%into the price. Which is why I find f&f only sellers odd. Like seriously the only way you'll sell is leaving the buyer with no protection? Why can't the buyer just cover the fees (which the damn seller should have just included in the price) and pay g&s?


It's a red flag for me seeing people state; friends and family only.

Funny because they aren't my friend or my family.
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I have some family members that I wouldn't pay F&F to. LOL
But I agree and someone saying F&F is a red flag to me as well. And if it was someone that I had done business with before then I would assume that their account has been hacked.
 
000Robert said:
I have some family members that I wouldn't pay F&F to. LOL
But I agree and someone saying F&F is a red flag to me as well. And if it was someone that I had done business with before then I would assume that their account has been hacked.
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Lol
"send me your money you'll have no recourse if I don't send your knife, but send me your money" seems more honest than "friends and family only" but would scare off more people, wouldn't it?
 
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